Future Scenarios for the Western Balkans

TRAIN 2018 researchers gather in Belgrade for their midterm seminar

24/06/2018 - 28/06/2018 | 09:00 - 18:00 | Belgrade | Invitation only

Category: Balkans

From the 24th to the 28th of June, the second seminar in this year’s TRAIN Programme cycle took place in Belgrade, once again bringing together think tank experts from the Western Balkans and across the EU to discuss prospects for the future of regional cooperation and European integration. Following their kick-off seminar in April in Berlin, the researchers moved on in their recent meeting to the process of developing concrete scenarios and detailed outlooks for 2025.

In Belgrade, the researchers focused on refining the factors identified during the Berlin workshop, from which they then constructed plausible scenarios. In intensive debates, the participants contributed with their diverse expertise and perspectives to the strategic process. This approach provided researchers with the opportunity to directly engage with current developments, such as strategic decisions from the EU and its member states. At a final workshop in Brussels, the researchers will discuss their results with relevant EU decision-makers. A joint paper will be published at the end of the year and will provide targeted recommendations for action.

This year's TRAIN participants are working on an in-depth strategic foresight project. In the course of the three workshops, the think tank representatives develop scenarios and derive ideas and recommendations for EU enlargement policy. The foresight process is methodologically facilitated by the consulting firm Foresight Intelligence.

With the aim of fostering policy dialogue between think tanks and political actors in the Western Balkans, the TRAIN programme (Think Tanks Providing Research and Advice through Interaction and Networking) has been offering organizations from the six Western Balkans states: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia training as well as networking opportunities since 2010. The programme is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe).